Insole



L. Q. WHITE Dec. 5, 1933.

INSOLE Filed Oct. 51, 1951 Fig.3.

Grain Face \nvenTo TY. Loring Q. hiTe by/wwl MJ W Aflys.

Patented Dec. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES 1,937,678 INSOLE Loring Q. White, Palm Beach, Fla., assignor to L. Q. White Shoe Company, Bridgewater, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 31,

1 Claim.

This invention relates to insoles for use in making boots and shoes and it has for its general object to provide an insole which is inexpensive to manufacture, which when built into the shoe has all the appearance of a solid grain leather insole, and which will give substantially as effective service as a grain leather insole.

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated in the drawing a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claim.

Fig. 1 is a bottom side view of an insole embodying the invention; I

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the top of the insole with the stitch covering and facing layer rolledbackat the toe of the insole to better show the construction.

The improved insole herein illustrated comprises a base or body layer 1 which is preferably of some suitable inexpensive material that will hold the stitches. Material well adapted for this purpose is that known to the trade as leather board, although any suitable inexpensive material which has sufilcient stiffness and will hol stitches will answer the purpose.

The inner sole is provided with an inseamreceiving rib 2 which is formed in a known way by laying a cord or strip 3 of some suitable material on the face of the body 1 and then covering saidcord or strip with a strip of canvas 4 which is sewed to the bodyl by stitches 5. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention there are three rows of stitches used in sewing the fabric strip 4. to the body 1, two rows on the inside of the rib 2 and one row on the outside of the rib. I s

adhesively secured to the upper face of the body 1, or to that face which is opposite the inseam-receiving rib 2, is a layer 6 of some suitable material, preferably an inexpensive one, which is adapted not only to cover the stitches 5 and prevent them from showing on the upper face of the fabric butwhich also has the characteristic that its upper face will not be deformed by the stitches so that the shape and location of the stitches will not appear through the top of the insole.

When the stitches 5 are completed they will lie partially on the surface of the body 1 and. the portion of each stitch'which is exposed on the surface of the layer 1 will be slightly raised above the surface. The layer 6 has such characteristics that these stitches will become embedded in the under face thereof but the shape or location of the stitch will not show through on the top face. Leather board also makes a suitable material for the layer 6 although any material which is inexpensive and which has the 1931. Serial No. 572,275

desired characteristics above referred to may be employed without departing from the invention.

The top face of the inner sole is formed by a thin layer 7 of leather which is cut or skived from the grain face of sole leather.

In the manufacture of shoes which have a leather insole it is a common practice to cut or skive a thin wafer-like layer from the grain side of the insole and such thin wafer-like piece of leather is usually discarded and sold as waste.

According to the present invention this product, which is considered more or less as a waste product, can be put to valuable use in making the improved insole. Such thin wafer-like piece of leather cut from the grain face of an insole is adhesively united to the layer 6 with the grain side exposed thereby giving the top face of the insole the appearance of a grain leather insole.

An insole having the leather board body 1 and the inseam-receiving rib constructed as herein shown is just as satisfactory for ordinary wear purposes as a more expensive insole and by making the insole with the upper face or that which is exposed on the inside of the shoe from the skiving of the grain side ofv soleleather there will be produced an insole which is satisfactory so far as wearing qualities are concerned and which when built into the shoe has all the appearance of a grain leather insole.

The layer 6 interposed between the body layer 1 and the leather layer '7 forms a sort of buffer or cushion layer into which the stitches 5 become embedded but without showing through to the upper surface so that not only are the stitches concealed from sight but the form or shape of the stitches is prevented from showing through on the leather surface of the insole.

I claim:

An insole comprising a single ply body layer, an inseam-receiving rib member sewed to one face of the body layer with through and through stitches, portions of which project beyond the opposite face of said body layer, a stitch-concealing layer of leather-board having less thickness than the body layer adhesively united to said opposite face of the body layer, the portions of the stitches exposed on said opposite face of the body layer being embedded in the face of the stitch-concealing layer which contacts with the body layer, but causing no deformation of the opposite face of said stitch-concealing layer, and a thin waferlike layer of grain leather adhesively united to said opposite face of the stitch-concealing layer, said wafer-like layer having the grain side exposed and being so thin that any irregularities in said opposite face of the stitch-concealing layer would show on the exposed face of said waferlike layer.

LORING Q. WHITE. 

